Air France-KLM to explore short-haul entertainment and connectivity options

Air France-KLM already offers connectivity on board KLM’s new Boeing 787s after a successful trial on two 777-300 aircraft. The airline’s ambition is to have its aircraft connected and to offer both connectivity and forms of entertainment to its passengers throughout their journey. The Air France-KLM group is continually researching and testing several options. In fact, an in-flight connectivity and content streaming solution is currently being trialled on two Air France A320s in partnership with Orange. “Until we have our fleet connected we are also exploring alternatives, like AirFi,” said Joost Blom, Air France-KLM’s Project Manager – Product Innovation Inflight. On two KLM 737-800s, a four-month trial of the AirFi portable entertainment product is well under way to explore the viability of this solution. The system, branded “KLM in the Cloud”, is being trialled on two routes – Amsterdam-Istanbul and Amsterdam-Madrid – providing passengers with access on their own devices to short videos, digital newspapers and magazines, destination information, the KLM shopping catalogue and even bespoke children’s content featuring KLM’s very own “Bluey” character. Full cabin video streaming is not an option at the moment, but is being investigated as well.